Tuesday, 30 November 2010

First vintage outing...

Here it is ….. my first ever garment made from a real life vintage pattern. And it fits me!

I chose this pattern (Advance 7701) for my first attempt as it appeared to be pretty straightforward to put together: a simple wrap top with one cunningly crafted main piece plus a small collar piece and a tie end. And because it’s a wrap top I didn’t think I'd have any tricky fitting issues. Well the good news is, that’s more or less how it turned out.

Happily, the instructions were really clear and comprehensive – I was expecting them to be something along the lines of “cut out, fit, sew, finish” but they were much more accommodating to the novice sewer. Once I’d got my head round how the pieces fitted together it was very quick to sew together. I cheated used my initiative just the once. Because I used el-cheapo poly cotton, it was almost impossible to slip stitch the facing down without it showing through on the other side, there just weren’t any threads of fabric to be had. So I machined it in place and I don’t think it looks any worse for it. There were also a couple of tiny fitting issues.

First, the cut is one where the sleeves are part of the pattern front and back pieces rather than separate sleeves you have to fit yourself (I’m sure there’s an official sewing word for this, would love to know what it is!). However, I think I have natural sloping shoulders (or bad posture as my husband pointed out, thanks love) and this tends to accentuate them. I found this with the Sencha blouse as well. I need to get into the habit of standing upright and thrusting my chest out as 50’s ladies were want to do (think Joan Harris nee Holloway) and it will probably look better.

Second, my waist is definitely not a typical 50’s size. The top is supposed to cross at the front, go all the way round the back and tie at the front. Hmm, not quite long enough.

Look how tiny the knot at the front is!

I had to wear industrial strength foundation garments for this photo just because I was desperate to show it off (my first vintage pattern, yay!) and that’s the only way the tie was going to get round my waist. Of course if I tried to walk or breath or eat or do anything at all, the whole thing would explode, so I’ll retrospectively add a little length to the ties to make it more wearable. It’s also cut higher than current fashions, and as there’s more chance of hell freezing over than of me displaying my midriff, a black vest had to bridge the gap. I’ll now need to add a high waisted skirt to my pattern list.

This is more like the intended waist size

But… even though I’ll have to butcher it a bit to be able to walk in it, I do think I’ll actually wear it. The style fits in with the rest of my wardrobe, the colour is right and it’s my first vintage top so it’s extra special. I love it. x

17 comments:

Looks absolutely lovely. And you could always tie it round the back on the days you're not wearing the super-cinching uplifting not an ounce of flesh moving underwear! Whenever I've used Advance patterns, they've always been great.

These days I almost only ever sew with vintage patterns and find they're no more difficult to use than modern ones (even the unmarked ones). The last time I used a modern one (Simplicity, I think), I found the instructions were useless (skipping crucial steps, etc). In the end it all went together like a dream, but only because I used my intuition and ignored the instructions entirely!

This is GORGEOUS!! Congratulations on completing your first vintage pattern - it turned out so well. The gathered front is gorgeous and the colour looks beautiful on you. What type of fabric did you use?

I made a similar blouse for my first vintage effort and had the same trouble with the shape and fit: http://www.tillyandthebuttons.com/2010/04/first-foray-into-sewing-vintage.html. I only ever wear it with a super high-waisted skirt but as that's not very comfortable I don't wear it much at all. I think I'll try a longer sleeved version like yours and make it longer at the waist.

Zoe did a great post on Colette Patterns about those types of sleeves: http://www.colettepatterns.com/blog/inspiration/mid-century-kimono-sleeves

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments, I now feel even more pleased with myself! Tilly, thanks for the link to Zoe's post, what a great read. And now I know what the sleeves are called - kimono, how glam! Oh and I made the blouse from cheapo polycotton, surprisingly good to sew with.x

HI Marie, yes it's definitely not put me off! I've got two more on standby, one's a 60's dress that looks quite simple (!) and the other is a 30's blouse pattern that's to die for. Once I've learnt how to make a bodice muslin (hopefully during Gertie's sew-along) I'm going to have a go at the 30's one and try to do a proper fitting first. I've just bought some GORGEOUS japanese double gauze fabric for it which I'll do a post on next week. x